A weekend with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden – June 2016

Sunday

I’d been told great things about Swedish Springsteen fans, but here’s the prob: apart from two or three friends I’ve made along the way (hello Magnus, hello Anna), I’d never actually met any. I’d heard the stories though – breaking the Ullevi stadium in 1985; bars spinning the tunes on loop in the run up to the concerts; then there’s Bruce himself, always banging on about loving the Swedish concerts.

People who don’t ‘get’ Springsteen also won’t get the two concerts in one weekend thing, but this weekend proved how different the pace and vibes of those two sets can be. Like I need to convince you!

Yeah boy!

The first night – straight up classic Bruce, 38 crowd-pleasing songs, the second-longest set ever. Tunnel of Love, for the first time in eight years. EIGHT YEARS. (Over on this blog post Nils Lofgren told us a bit about how it came to be played.)

For these two concerts I was with (one of) my ‘Bruce husbands’ Steve (@GreasyLake on Twitter). For night one, we stood at the side stage where there was plenty of room for dancing and the crowd were enthusiastic but polite. And cool. Did I mention that before?

Because words can be a bit of a slog, I’ve decided to bash these concert ‘reviews’ out with pictures and emojis. It’s important to move with the times. And I love an emoji. Especially that peach.

With Steve – aka @GreasyLake on Twitter

Helloooo Ullevi

Greasy Lake, Magnus, me and Tony Ginger

Bruce at the back of the pit

WATCH THIS FOR JOY (even if you don’t love the song it’s gotta make you happy)

Springsteen in Gothenburg, night two

For the second night we went towards the middle. We made punny signs. We waited. It rained. It stopped. It rained again. I need to buy a waterproof jacket.

Although I’m not really one for set list comparisons (after all, going to a Springsteen concert is about way more than the songs you hear – it’s the crowd around you, the days before and the versions of the song), I’m still gonna say that I preferred this set list. And that Racing in the Street… Oh man. Dem shivers.

I’m going to leave you with this video, because for me, this is what going to a Springsteen concert is about. When this tour is over (oh man), this is the clip I’ll refer back to when I need a Bruce boost.

Hope you like it.

WATCH THIS FOR MORE JOY (even if you don’t love the song it’s gotta make you happy)